December 28, 2024 - 5:23pm
Pottery cloche: glaze the inside?
I’m an amateur potter and baker. My oven has fans that run always, pulling out steam from the oven rather quickly.
So I’m making a pair of stoneware cloches in which to bake bread.
Shallow base with a domed lid to keep in the steam. The idea is to preheat the cloches in the oven, load a loaf in each (moistened with a water spray?), seal the lids, then bake. Remove the lids about half way through the bake.
I’m torn about whether to glaze the inside of the lid. It seems that perhaps an unglazed inside might absorb some steam, and so then maybe retain the steam a bit longer. But perhaps it better for the lid to be glazed, and keep the steam in the air to be absorbed by the loaves?
Does anyone with experience have thoughts about this?
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KA example appears to be unglazed base and inner lid.
https://shop.kingarthurbaking.com/items/cloche-bread-baker-with-handle?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=&utm_content=adtaxi&gad_source=1&gcli...
Years ago I had two of the "original" La Cloche clay bakers. They were exactly as you describe: Stoneware, shallow bottom, domed top (with ball knob for handle), and totally unglazed. They worked extremely well. I lost both, eventually, to thermal shock. I don't think they were flawed: just work-hardened to point of failure. As long as you are certain of the food-safe nature of your materials, (clay, and glaze if you choose to use it), then you could go either way.
I never found any issues with clean-up or sticking with my unglazed bakers, but they got so expensive that I just moved to cast iron dutch ovens that work equally well.
Happy baking new year!
OldWoodenSpoon
Edit: I would refrain from misting the hot ceramic. Just asking for thermal shock, in my opinion. Even if you use boiling water you have a 188 degree differential at 400F preheat temperature. I did that to one of mine by accident with only a couple of drops of water.
Agree with Old Wooden Spoon on all counts. The La Cloche came unglazed. Avoid misting, just asking for trouble.
So I’ll glaze the outside, but not inside.
And if I mist the loaves that will be before it gets anywhere near the cloche.
I’ll try an experiment with misting one loaf and not another. My loaves are usually fairly high hydration, anyway, so it may not make much difference.
Romertopfs aren't glazed at all, there is an old discussion about their use here:
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/17070/anyone-ever-use-romertopf-clay-pot
It might be worth a read, before you start baking in your cloche regardless of how you glaze it, as the discussion covered whether to pre-heat it and think that will be relevant for you as well.
This is all quite exciting, please share pics of your cloches and breads once you're using them!
-Jon